Meet the Founders
Gert Christen, CEO
US-European Business incubator and innovation strategist.
25+ years experience building incubators in Zurich and San Francisco and supporting tech businesses companies expand internationally.
Entrepreneurship Lecturer at University of California, Berkeley
Matt DiMarsico, CSO
Shaper of Sales and Marketing Organizations.
20+ years experience helping companies build their US sales organization
Led 20+ US market entries by foreign companies, including British Telecom, NTT from Japan, and Telus from Canada.
Global Reach
Meet our Team
Kaspar Zimmerli, Swiss USAccelerator & Regional Partner Switzerland
Our representative in Switzerland. Experienced Medtech entrepreneur, Innosuisse coach and co-founder of the Swiss USAccelerator.
Mar Navarro, Regional European Partner
With a background in biotechnology, and a Master’s in Startup Management (UPV and University of California, Berkeley). She supports USA Launching Pad as a European Partner, representing the organization at events and in conversations with startups exploring U.S. market entry.
Sergio Mazariegos, Senior Program Manager.
A Regents’ & Chancellor’s Scholar at University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. Sergio leads the cohorts of USA Launching Pad startups and helps keep day-to-day operations.
Manan Bhargava, Software Engineering & Project Manager
As a Computer Science and Data Science senior from University of California, Berkeley, he is in charge of our System Design and Automations. He is also our deep technology project manager.
Erin Hong, Program Manager
As a specialist in immuno-oncology research, molecular biology, and data science from UC Berkeley, Erin focuses on design thinking and market expansion.
Jordan White, Landing Page Strategist
Justin Lee, Program Manager
As you launch your company in the US, it's important to tell a compelling story for your North American audience to take action. Using a proven story-based formula, Jordan helps develop a compelling message, and create landing pages that make you standout.
As a cybersecurity, embedded systems, and integrated circuits expert from UC Berkeley, Justin is driving customer discovery and business model refinement. He is also responsible for establishing strategic partnerships and validating sales channels to ensure long-term growth.
Sophie Everett, Landing Page Strategist
The U.S. market is enormous, inundating the average person with a plethora of ads compared to European clients. Sophie helps you cut through the noise, crafting crystal-clear messages, and transforming them into highly effective landing pages.
Andrianina Rajaosera, Communications Manager
As a Business and Digital Media senior at UC Berkeley, Andrianina leads content strategy, sharing thought leadership on startup expansion & sales strategies, client success stories, and highlights from our programs, team, and global network.
Jennifer Lum, Customer Discovery Research Coach
With deep expertise in customer experience, she guides cohorts through the strategic process of methodically understanding user and customer goals, motivations, and pain points to uncover market opportunities.
Daniela Guerra, Program Manager
With a background in mechanical engineering at University of California, Berkeley, and experience working in Tesla, she is our engineering project manager.
